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Posts Tagged ‘Groningen’

The lounge created by Studio Job for the Groninger Museum is a showpiece in itself.

The design duo of Job Smeets (1970) and Nynke Tynagel (1977) was inspired by 19th-century private clubs full of smoking gentlemen in top hats. These were once sophisticated bastions with thick-pile carpets on creaking wooden floors; chandeliers were suspended from richly decorated ceilings supported by solid pillars. The muffled silence was only broken by the calming spatter of the fountain at the entrance. It was an ivory tower for the elite – just as it was on the Titanic. It is not without reason that this world has vanished.

Kwint Architecten designed a community centre for the Paddepoel-Zuid & Tuinwijk districts in de dutch City of Groningen. The community center is located in a parc, called the Bessemoerpark, as a link between the two districts. As part of the transformation of the parc, Kwint Architecten was assigned to design a building with it’s own character, independent from the parc. The building is set up as an unpretentious master volume with an elongated shape. The volume is placed crosswise in the elongated parc, as a result of which transforms the building in a link between the two adjacent city districts. The entrance of the building is situated alongside a footpath between these districts. By means of rounding of two of the four corners the building derives a distinctive character. As a result of the rounding, the front and side facades melt together and prevents the use of the outdoor spaces at only one side. Instead, the shape stimulates the use of all the outdoor space alongside the building for activities. The building is designed to be a guest in the parc and to interact with the parc. Two elements are a added to the design. At one side a cavity is formed to mark the entrance, at the other side a porch is added which connects the main rooms to the park.

The Infoversum is unique, not only because of its fluent design and the unusual techniques being used, the exploratory and inviting role it will play in the community also make it special.

Conveniently located near the centre of Groningen,the Infoversum cannot be overlooked. It is a building that makes one curious and that needs to be explored. Never before have so many different fields of expertise, goals and techniques successfully been combined in one design.

The multifunctional Euroborg stadium is a catalyst for a multiplicity of amenities that do not compete with the facilities in the city centre, but reinforce Groningen’s key position in the north of Holland. The complex houses theatres, sports facilities, shops, offices, apartments and catering establishments, in a synergy that benefits both users and facility managers. Rather than a conventional stadium with a football pitch, Euroborg will be a sort of microcosm where social interaction and social control go hand in hand.

The “kas di coral” project is located in the new district “de Linie”, which is part of the urban area Europa Park in Groningen, Netherlands. In 2001 the undeveloped district was the scene of the Blue Moon manifestation. An event directed by Toyo Ito where a temporary symbiosis between architecture and visual art was created.

Close to the city centre of Groningen the allotment gardens of Tuinwijck are situated. This green oasis between the railway track and the Helperzoom offers the inhabitants of the city a low budget possibility to create the most eccentric gardens. It is an ecological allotment garden where the elderly as well as children, artists and so on can enjoy their time.

UNStudio’s design for an Observation Tower for ‘De Onlanden’ presented to Natuurmonumenten

On September 22nd the design for an observation tower for the nature reserve ‘De Onlanden’, situated to the South-West of the City of Groningen, was presented to Natuurmonumenten (the Dutch Society for the Preservation of Natural Heritage) during the mini-symposium ‘Experience Nature with innovative concrete’ in Peize. The observation tower is the result of a study into the optimal application of Ultra High Performance Concrete by a case study team comprising of UNStudio, ABT, BAM Utiliteitsbouw en Haitsma Beton. Natuurmonumenten received the design as a gift from the case study team.

The old auditorium at Groningen’s School of Music has been given a completely new identity. Breaking open one of the façades allows sunlight to stream into the hall and establishes a relationship between the hall and the adjoining patio. An oak interior was rolled out lengthwise, transforming the existing elements in the hall – floor, stage, balcony, walls and ceiling – into a unified whole. The organ was integrated in this wooden interior. The acoustics of the hall were improved by opening up the wooden surfaces, between which the lighting fixtures are set. The auditorium has been transformed into the ‘innards’ of a musical instrument.

A new, 92 meter tall complex of soft, undulating curves marks the skyline of Groningen. This asymmetric, aerodynamic construction is set amidst small, ancient woodland, sheltering rare and protected species. The project includes the design, construction and financing of two public institutions; the national tax offices and the student loan administration. The commission from the RGD (National Buildings Service) includes, besides the architecture, the management and building maintenance and care of facilities and services for a period of 20 years. Accommodating 2,500 workstations, parking facilities for 1,500 bicycles and 675 cars in an underground garage, the building will be surrounded by a large public city garden with pond and a multifunctional pavilion with commercial functions.